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Monthly Archives: January 2013

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I’m addicted to hand lotion. Anyone who knows me is accustomed to the sight of me feverishly rubbing my hands together as lotion soaks into them. I keep a tube stashed in my purse, on my bedside table, in the bathroom, and on the coffee table. I love lotion. I want to marry it. You get the gist.

A few years ago I was at YVR (Vancouver International Airport) in between flights. My lotion had been confiscated and my hands were chafing. I was maniacally searching casually looking for a new tube when I stumbled upon a little stand of Cake Beauty products. I was hooked immediately, I mean, it’s called CAKE. I opened a bottle of lotion, sniffed it, and as soon as the scent of baked goods entered my nose I was sold.

Fast forward three or four years, and I’m still a Cake Beauty devotee. My latest acquisition is the Sugar Cookie Velveteen Hand Cream, it’s currently available at Sephora for a mere $9!

This lotion is light, non-greasy, and smells like I imagine Heaven smells, like a sugar cookie. The ingredients include whole milk, shea butter, mango butter, and marshmallow extract. I didn’t even know I needed marshmallow extract in my lotion but there you have it, Cake delivers a cream that is simply gorgeous. I love this stuff! My recommendation? Run out and purchase this lotion immediately, though if you’re not into heavily scented products this is not the lotion for you.

Did you know that there’s now a CC cream and it’s supposedly better than BB cream?

Mom

The subject line read “News”. This is just one of the (many) reasons she is my best friend:)

Here are the deets! CC stands for “colour correcting” . The purpose of the new wonder cream is to brighten and even out your skin tone (www.totalbeauty.com). Olay was the first to release one (in North America) in October in the US.

I’ve been riding the BB Cream wave for about a year now, and I do believe I am hooked. I love BB Cream because it’s so friggin’ easy! Good-bye cakey, super spendy, powder foundations, hello easy, breezy, one-step wonder!

I’m sure you’ve all heard about it by now, but just in case you haven’t, BB Cream is a Korean 8-in-1 miracle product. It’s original use was for recovering plastic surgery patients to cover their scars. Those Korean geniuses decided to adapt it as make-up and the rest was history! BB Cream is a moisturizer, a cover-up, a foundation, an anti-aging product, and a sunscreen all in one magical little tube. The real-deal Korean versions also contain a skin lightening ingredient, something which I certainly do not need. I actually think the fact that some people still feel the need to look whiter speaks volumes about our supposedly inclusive society, but that’s a subject for another post.

I started my BB Cream adventures with Marcelle (did you know that Marcelle is actually exactly the same as Clinique?) and was pretty happy; however, in typical Poutine fashion I had to try out the real deal. After a bit of research I got my little behind over to eBay and in no time flat secured myself a tube of Missha Perfect Cover BB Cream for about $6 (the Marcelle version costs about $20).

Well, colour me impressed. The Missha cream is quite thick, it takes a bit of elbow grease to work it into your skin, but once there it’s not budging! It goes on slightly ashy and gray but after five minutes or so it settles down and adjusts to your skin tone beautifully. One of the things I love most about BB Cream is that it doesn’t feel like make-up, it feels like a rich moisturizer. It’s light, fresh, and looks natural. I really don’t like that super cakey make-up look. The whole idea of make-up is to highlight your natural beauty, am I right?

Verdict? Hustle your butts over to eBay and snag your little miracle in a tube ASAP!!

Pantone has announced the colours for Spring 2013, and one of them is emerald green! Colour me thrilled! I love me a jewel tone; I was equally pleased that Oxblood was the colour for the fall. Here are some of the inspiring images I’ve stumbled across.

Emerald jewels seem like the obvious place to start!

Nail polish is an inexpensive way to incorporate of the moment colours into your look.

I love me a bold lip. I don’t have a lot of pigmentation in my lips so I feel that I tend to look super washed-out, and kind of undead, without a slick of gloss or lippy. Lately, I’ve been on the hunt for a nice daytime lipstick (no, I haven’t been shopping!). My current lipsticks are all bold reds or bright pinks, which are a lot of fun but not really suitable for the office… I don’t want to be that girl (you know the one: low-cut blouse and loud make-up, every office has one).

I was in Sephora a while ago and grabbed the Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Queen. I chose this colour specifically because it looked like a nice, daytime appropriate shade of coral-red. I also noticed that the product is vegan and cruelty-free; I’m always happy if no bunnies were hurt in the production of my beauty products.

The fun thing about this product is the application. You paint it on with a little brush. Sephora explains: “Flash a fabulous smile and a stunning splash of color with this lip formula that combines the longevity of a lipstick with the breezy application of a gloss.” The Lip Tar does have impressive staying power. My lips were painted all day long. The problem? After about an hour my lips had turned a shade of shocking, day-glow pink. Not appropriate for work, and not at all the colour I had been hoping for. However, that’s not a huge issue as I now have another fun pink for nightime. My real issue with this product is the tiny brush. It’s a cute idea but it’s far too small to keep in the basket I keep my other brushes in, I also can’t just throw it in lose with my make-up as it will immediately be lost forever. I ended up securing it to the Lip Tar tube with a hair elastic – not ideal!

I suffer from stumpy eyelash syndrome. It’s a problem, but one that I have come to terms with over the years. False eyelashes aren’t really an option because I’m far to clumsy to apply them properly. I’ve always just focussed more on my lips, and tried to forget my short stumpers. Then I discovered Benefit’s They’re Real Mascara. I grabbed it on a whim while on a bit of a make-up buying binge at Shopper’s Drug Mart with my bestie. It was next to the till, and friends, I think I’ve mentioned that I am highly susceptible to that sort of product placement.

As usual I ripped into my new loot the second I got home. I swiped on a couple of layers of my new mascara over the one I already had on and didn’t really notice much of a difference. It wasn’t until later that evening when I redid my make-up that I truly understood the miracle I had so blithely stumbled upon. Ladies, stumpy, forlorn lashes are officially a thing of my past! With a couple of coats of this magical elixir my lashes rest on my pillowy cheeks when I flutter them… or pretty close anyway! At $23 a pop this product is on the pricey side, but take it from me, it’s worth every penny!

Have you ever accidentally discovered a product you can’t live without?

I like shopping, you know, the way I like breathing. It’s one of my favourite activities. I like it the way I liked the New Kids on the Block when I was 10 – I went to sleep cuddling my stereo while the boys crooned to me. I like it. A lot.

Here are some of the things I like about it:

1. I have this incredible ability to tune out everything that’s going on around me and browse until I find things that I love. It’s relaxing.

2. I honestly think that when I grab the handles of a carrier bag full of new stuff my brain drowns in a wave of endorphins.

3. I like pretty new things.

4. Shopping makes for great people watching.

5. I love, love, love hanging up new clothes in my closet.

I’ve committed to a shopping ban for the entire month of January. I have to follow through because I’ve said that I’m doing this outloud – to people. I’ve also committed to an alcohol free month. January is going to be so great.